Baduanjin exercise can provide short-term relief for multidimensional symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome such as disease impact, pain, sleep quality, fatigue, and muscle activation.
The research was a two-arm randomized controlled trial held at a university hospital. Participants, who were adults diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome, were randomly assigned to either engage in Baduanjin exercise daily for 4 weeks or receive standard therapy for the same duration. Measurements were taken at the start of the experiment, week 4, and week 8. The primary outcome was a change in the severity of the fibromyalgia impact, and secondary outcomes included changes in pain, sleep quality, fatigue, and muscle activation.
The results showed improvements in all parameters for the Baduanjin group compared to the control group at week 4. At week 8, improvements in pain intensity and disease impact were not significant anymore, but improvements in other areas remained in the exercise group. Participants reported mild adverse events without any serious occurrences in both groups, suggesting the safety of Baduanjin exercise as an intervention. The exercise was identified as an effective non-pharmaceutical method for managing fibromyalgia, with benefits observed in overall disease burden and multidimensional symptoms.
